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CHICAGO — Cheesy, gooey, and delicious. As the festival motto goes, who doesn’t love macaroni and cheese? And this year’s 4th Annual Mac & Cheese Fest takes it to a whole new level.

WGN’s Andrea Darlas was at the festival and got to try out one of America’s favorite dishes.

One of the co-founders of the festival tasted mac and cheese for the first time–as an adult. Once she tasted it, CeCe Gonzales was hooked.

While most novices are used to making the dish on the stove, from a box and a packet more than 40 Chicago area chefs spent the day cooking and dishing up for thousands of attendees. They each created their own special version of the classic.

The winner of the annual festival takes home the coveted Golden Noodle trophy, and perhaps the best part, aside from the mounds of decadent, delicious mac ad cheese is that a portion of the proceeds benefit the Ronald McDonald House in Chicago.